Neutral

Hiss

I was picking-up a third Rotel RB971 to complete my (much better than average) home cinema/stereo when I asked for a casual listen to 981. The 971 are very good and being sceptical I expected only marginally better sound, if any, so I tried A/B testing.
However, there wasn't a need, comparing 981 to 971 is like a window being openned in a stuffy room. The effect was immediate. I thought that maybe the 981 was louder so I played-about with the volume when listening to 971 but there was no use, the 981 is a far more neutral (ie. true to life) and dynamic (ie. you can hear each instrument adding its own effect to the overall sound). I wasn't planning to spend twice the price for 971 but I had no choice - the amp sold itself.
The only thing I don't like about the 981 is that it hisses more than 971. Ok, admittedly, I have to put my ear right next to the tweeter to hear it and then only if the rest if the house is quite, but I am allowed to be padantic when I spend AUS$750, no? Especially, if Rotel spec'ed it at 120db S/N, which I have here challenged.
Maybe higher powered design causes this increase of hiss, but Rotel should get rid of it if they want to sell a truly impressive product.
Connecting my Yamaha's AX550 pre-amp to the 981 tripled the hiss, so I guess relatively speaking the 981 is exceptional.
I'd like to give it a 5, but there's room for improvement, so a 4.5!

Similar Products Used:

RB971

smooth, clean power

none

Very, very good amp at this price. The soud is strong and clear. Power to spare. I run two of these in mono. One per speaker. Awesome! Very powerful! Clean, clear, strong, soundstage, No noise, does not run hot. Very well built. I love these amps.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom, Denon, Carver, Yamaha

Sweet, fairly natural sound

This is actually a review of sorts on the older 980 bx, with an underlying quesiton regarding the 981. Everyone knows about the 980 bx, 120 watt Rotel. Pretty much the company's claim to fame with amps, at least in recent years, especially with the inclusion of it in Stereophile's recommended components listing of class "C", and at $600. Rotel's new line has heat sinks in the front, but they left out the same cosmetic changes when updating the 980 to the 981! One review of the 980 said that the actual output was more like 137 watts into 8 ohms, blah blah blah. What I'm wondering, and hoping a reader of this can help me with, is whether Rotel improved the 980 with the introduction of the 981, degraded the quality, or if it is actually the same amp. If someone has owned both, or has heard both enough to make an accurate judgement, please write a review on this subject, as I have not had the chance to audition the 981. Thank you. I guess I have to rate the 980 in this, and I'll say 4 out of 5. Bass is a little on the soft side, and when operating in bridged mode, speaker selection is critical--I used DCM timeframe 600 in bridged mode and heard a very unacceptable level of grain in the upper frequencies. On Paradigm se mk 5, however, the amp came alive, and made me want two of them...it sounded great like this. I know, too much power, but just watch the volume! Speaking of power I bridged the amp on an old pair of JBL L100's; I'm not real fond of JBL, but these were decent speakers. The Rotel drove these things crazy! Even though I like a much more subdued sound than the JBL's, I just had to check out the power output of my amp, right? Anyway, I had an older Rotel preamp at the time, which I really disliked. I could connect my CD directly into the amp, press play and then pause on the player, and even though the amp was running wide open, there was no hint of hiss or noise. When I connected the preamp, however, even with the mute on and the volume all the way down, there was an audible hiss in the left speaker. I sold that thing. In finishing on a positive note, I have actually heard the Rotel 980 BX, using an Audible Illusions m3 preamp (something my dealer likes to do to sell cheaper equipment), and it was unbelievable. That 980 is capable of outstanding sound quality. I just want someone to let me know about the new one. How does it compare? thanks!

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RB 980 BX

Clarity, uncolored, dynamic and powerful

Sorry I wait so long to upgrade.

I just ditched a Harmon Kardon PA-5800. While I thought the amp was great for home theater, I felt there was something lacking in the stereo reproduction department. Enter the RB-981 to take duty driving my front speakers and RB-976 (bridged in three channel mode) to drive the center and surrounds.

With that addition of the RB-981, the sound stage is now open, spacious and incredible. Vocals are centered and true, instruments are crisp but not brassy and midrange and bass are phenomenal. I have started to rediscover my CD collection and have discovered nuances that I have missed previously on well-recorded discs making the overall musical experience outstanding. You can hear the finger movement on the strings of the bass, basically what is recorded will be reproduced. Which in part is attribitable to the SuperTwo's.

I should mention that this amp has the power ability to handle my NHT Supertwo with plenty of power to spare. I must say that they make a wonderful combination. However, I must say that the combination will quick;y identify poorly recorded material. Nevertheless, I must say that I am in Audiophile Heaven.

System:

Sony KP-53S65 - 53" Projection TV
Panamax 1000+ Surge Protector
Harmon Kardon PT-2500 - Preamp/Tuner
Marantz DP-870 - Digital Decoder
Denon DCM-370 - HDCD CD Player
Sony MDS-JE330 - Mini Disc Player
Sony DVP-S560D - DVD Player
JVC Dual cassette deck
Sony SLV-998HF - Hi-Fi VCR
Rotel RB-981 - 2 Ch. Amplifier
Rotel RB-976 6 Ch. Amplifier (Bridged 3 CH. mode)
NHT SuperCenter - Center Channel
NHT SuperTwo's - Front Speakers
NHT SuperOne's - Rear Speakers
Sony AV RM 2000 - System Remote
DL Labs and AudioQuest interconnects
DL Labs speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Adcom,Technics, Harmon Kardon

neutral to warm sound, lots of power, good dynamics, PRICE

may color music on the 'warm' side, boosting midrange & bass slightly

This is an excellent amp that virtually stands alone in the price range. The key of course is great power supplies and Low labor costs in China. I bought one and enjoyed it so much that six months later I purchased a second. These things really cook when bridged to mono, and one gets an impressively open, airy sound when the jump from 130 to 360 wpc is made. I have a suspicion that these amps may color the music slightly on the 'warm' side, but that appeals to my ear anyway, and may also be an artifactual effect introduced by my tube/hybrid preamp. That is also why I went ahead with Rotel. Products like Classe and Krell have always turned me off by a trebbely, 'harsh' sound. These amps sound fantastic and are really unbeatable for the money. The sound is fantastic- detailed, precise, and very musical. The rap that these things are a little noisy (SLIGHT hum )and have limited binding post capacity is valid however, but these are small saccrifices fro such a fabulous sound.